Category Archives: President’s Report

By James McLaren

As former Vice President, I am now President because Kelly Thomas has decided to resign. In an effort to avoid following the example of other vice presidents who took over, I will try not to act like a klutz or explode any atomic bombs. (If you don’t get that joke, go google “Gerald Ford” and “Lyndon Johnson”.)

Our meetings will be moving to the second Tuesday of the month. I encourage people to come to the meetings and get involved in the community. It would be great to see more new people coming out. You can also explore our fabulously updated web site at heronpark.ca. Here you can read and comment on articles and events of recent interest. You can also contact me (president@heronpark.ca) directly. I would be very interested to hear residents’ opinions about what’s good and what’s not good about Heron Park and about the city services we receive (or don’t receive). Your community association is your first line of contact with city government and your best avenue of support if you are having problems with the city or, for example, with some development that is happening in your area.

We sponsor important services that you can read more about elsewhere in the Herald, such as the Wednesday Night Program, the outdoor rink, and the Playgroup. We are working hard to raise funds to build a new playstructure in the park and so far have raised over $6000. More than all this, I hope that the Heron Park Community Association can be a fun way to get to know your neighbours and join in interesting events without leaving your community.

The owners of Billings Bridge Plaza are planning to build a new 11-storey office building between the mall and the transitway. This is higher than the zoning currently allows at the site, but we have told them we do not object to the height on the condition that pedestrian links from Bank St and Data Centre Road to the mall are improved when the new building is constructed. We might even get a walkway directly across Sawmill Creek from the corner of Ohio and Clementine to the transit station! This would be nice – people could get to the transitway quickly instead of waiting for the bus or going all the way down the hill on Bank St and through the mall. I think that the extra height would be a small price to pay to get these links.

President’s Report

Fall 2009

I hope all Heron Park residents and their families had a restful summer break. As we begin Fall, members of HPCA are diligently continuing their activities and we hope to once again meet new and interested people who would like to participate in the events in and around our community.

Over the summer months, our Play Structure Committee, led by Committee Co-Chair Maritala Robinson, successfully gathered additional support and a mountain of donations for a new play structure in Heron Park. Through successful bottle drives, picnics, a garage sale, a street party, and a raffle at Canadian Tire for a new barbeque, we are that much closer to our goal, although we still have a lot to accomplish in the coming year. A note of thanks goes out to the Canadian Tire store at Heron and Bank streets for their donation of a new barbeque. In addition, many thanks to all those residents who willingly bought numerous tickets in support of this worthwhile endeavour and to those who took time out of their summer vacations to spend many days selling raffle tickets in front of the Canadian Tire store.

As we move into cooler weather, I bring to your attention the HPCA Annual General Meeting , scheduled for Monday, November 16th at 7:00 p.m. at the Billingswood Manor at the corner of Ohio and Bank Streets. I encourage those in Heron Park who would like to get involved to come out and see what we have accomplished over the past year and to apply for upcoming positions on our board. We understand your time is limited and want to stress this is not a large commitment with one HPCA meeting a month and participation in activities that are of interest to you whenever you are available. We’d also appreciate hearing from Heron Park residents who can lend a hand occasionally at community events and activities.

Examples of our activities include helping to organize a Christmas Craft Sale, participating in our annual winter carnival, joining as a block captain as part of Neighbourhood Watch, writing articles for the Heron Park Herald, tree planting, gardening, park cleanups, helping out at a the youth Wednesday Night Program … and much more!

As always, please refer to our website for the latest information as to what is going on in our neighbourhood at www.heronpark.ca. And, please send an email to President@heronpark.ca should you have any questions or concerns.

Kelly Thomas

HPCA President

Approval of Data Centre Road sidewalk

After numerous complaints and heated pressure on the City to make pedestrian commuting safer along Data Centre road, approval has been granted to construct a sidewalk to be completed within the next two years. For those who often travel on foot to Billings Bridge mall and to Revenue Canada offices, this is welcome news. Up until now, Data Centre Road has been dangerous and frightening to those that must rely on a half sidewalk on one side or who end up walking very close to the curb with buses and cars zooming by. Funds allocated to this construction project came out of numerous municipal construction work requests and will help get the recession-battered economy rolling by employing labor and increasing demand for raw materials.

What’s going on in Heron Park

Since my last report, the Heron Park Community Association has initiated many projects to support and improve our community.  With the help of many community members we’ve accomplished a lot! We’ve cleaned up and beautified our parks, taken further steps to launch a Neighbourhood Watch program, held fundraising events for a new play structure, increased our visibility with the HPCA web site, held our first annual HPCA Garage Sale, and continued with our successful Wednesday Night Program for youth. At each and every event, we’ve continued to see some new volunteers which has been fantastic!

A special acknowledgement goes out to all Heron Park folks who have come out to our events and who have donated so willingly to our causes. Your time, dedication and contributions are much appreciated and the HPCA Board and the community thank you.

Although HPCA is adjourned over the summer months, we’ll still be continuing with several of our initiatives including the Wednesday Night Program, Neighbourhood Watch, Sawmill Creek cleanup, and several fundraising events for a play structure. We hope we can continue to count on you to lend a hand in our community endeavours.

Get out and volunteer!

We have a dedicated team of volunteers but there aren’t nearly enough of us to accomplish all that we’d like to within our community. I ask that after you’ve enjoyed your summer vacation you consider volunteering with HPCA and playing a role in helping to improve Heron Park.

Support local businesses!

Also, during these tough economic times, I’d like to encourage you to support our local businesses over the summer months and beyond. Some of the Heron Park businesses are starting to feel the pinch of the economic slowdown. Why not take a walk or hop on your bike and see what’s available on Kaladar, Clementine, Bank Street and Heron Roads. Check out the ads in this issue to find what you’re looking for and to support businesses that help support your community.

Keep up to date …. log onto our web site!

And finally, please remember to check out our HPCA web site at www.heronpark.ca. It’s free to log on and an excellent way of keeping up to date on HPCA events and activities.

I wish you all a safe and happy summer. Hope to see you at some of our summer activities and into the fall!
Kelly Thomas

HPCA President